System for managing a loyalty program marketplace

ABSTRACT

A computer system detects a request to process a transaction corresponding to a first user and a first merchant, wherein the first user is associated with a first user account of a plurality of user accounts associated with a transaction platform. In response to detecting the request to process the transaction, the computer system identifies that a second user account of the plurality of user accounts includes a first amount of rewards corresponding to the first merchant. The computer system determines an optimal transaction path for obtaining, from the second user account, at least a portion of the first amount of rewards. In response to determining the optimal transaction path, the computer system utilizes the optimal transaction path to obtain the at least the portion of the first amount of rewards, and processes the transaction by utilizing the at least the portion of the first amount of rewards.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to loyalty programs, and moreparticularly to a system for managing a loyalty program marketplace.

BACKGROUND

In today's day and age, it is quite common for merchants and stores tooffer loyalty programs to their customers or to potential customers.These loyalty programs incentivize customers to spend more money at themerchant location by offering rewards in return for certain amounts ofcustomer expenditure. However, loyalty rewards typically only have valuefor a particular store or set of stores, therefore, in some casesloyalty rewards can unused or expired. These lost rewards couldpotentially be salvaged if a solution existed that allowed loyaltypoints to be utilized outside of the bounds of the correspondingmerchant stores.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a loyalty marketplace system, in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the server-sidetransaction application of FIG. 1 in identifying whether an amount ofrewards for a specific merchant are available, and if so, determining atransaction path for obtaining the rewards, in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the server-sidetransaction application of FIG. 1 in aggregating transaction informationand based on determining whether a set of requirements are satisfied,causing rewards information on a blockchain to be updated, in accordancewith an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the server-sidetransaction application of FIG. 1 in causing rewards information on ablockchain to be updated based on detected location information, inaccordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the blockchain nodes of FIG. 1, inaccordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram depicting the hardware components of theloyalty marketplace system of FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system, method, andprogram product. A computer system detects a request to process atransaction corresponding to a first user and a first merchant, whereinthe first user is associated with a first user account of a plurality ofuser accounts associated with a transaction platform. In response todetecting the request to process the transaction corresponding to thefirst user and the first merchant, the computer system identifies that asecond user account of the plurality of user accounts includes a firstamount of rewards corresponding to the first merchant. The computersystem determines an optimal transaction path for obtaining, from thesecond user account, at least a portion of the first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant. In response to determining theoptimal transaction path for obtaining, from the second user account,the at least the portion of the first amount of rewards corresponding tothe first merchant, the computer system utilizes the optimal transactionpath to obtain the at least the portion of the first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant and processing the transaction byutilizing the at least the portion of the first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant.

In the example embodiment, the present disclosure describes a solutionthat detects a request to process a transaction with a merchant.Further, the present solution describes determining whether another userof a transaction application has an amount of rewards corresponding tothe merchant. In response to determining that there is another user onthe transaction application that has an amount of rewards correspondingto the merchant, the present solution describes determining atransaction path for obtaining the amount of rewards from the otheruser. The present solutions further describes utilizing the determinedtransaction path to obtain the rewards, for example, by identifying atype of rewards or monetary compensation the other user would accept inexchange for the amount of rewards. The present solution then describesutilizing the obtained amount of rewards to process and complete thetransaction with the merchant.

The present solution describes an improvement to current technologybecause, based on a detected transaction, reward points may be obtainedfor use in a transaction, which may in certain cases result in a userpaying a lower amount for an item. Furthermore, a user's rewards pointsmay be exchanged based on a detection that the user is in a certainlocation or visits a certain location (such as a merchant location)frequently. Therefore, the present solution offers a dynamic rewardsexchange where a user's rewards may correspond more closely with actualspending habits. Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the users ofthe transaction application may be given the choice to “opt in”, inorder to participate in rewards exchanges.

In addition, the present solution describes a solution for aggregatingtransactions with a merchant and further identifying when to write thetransactions to a blockchain. In the example embodiment, the presentsolution describes receiving transaction information and aggregating thetransaction with previous transactions. The present solution thendescribes determining whether the aggregated transactions satisfy a setof requirements, and if so, the present solution describes identifyingand communicating with an appropriate smart contract with regard to theaggregated transactions. In this example embodiment, the describedcommunication may cause the smart contract to determine an amount ofrewards or points to allocate to a user account (based on the aggregatedtransactions), and further cause the transaction details to be writtenon to the appropriate blockchain.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying Figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates loyalty marketplace system 100, in accordance with anembodiment. In the example embodiment, loyalty marketplace system 100includes server 110, blockchain nodes, user device 150, and merchantdevice 140 interconnected via network 130.

In the example embodiment, network 130 is the Internet, representing aworldwide collection of networks and gateways to support communicationsbetween devices connected to the Internet. Network 130 may include, forexample, wired, wireless or fiber optic connections. In otherembodiments, network 130 may be implemented as an intranet, a Bluetooth,a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN). In general,network 130 can be any combination of connections and protocols thatwill support communications between computing devices, such as betweenserver 110 and blockchain nodes 120.

In the example embodiment, merchant device 140 is a merchant point ofsale (POS) device. Furthermore, in the example embodiment, merchantdevice 140 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a mobile device, a handheld device, a thin client, or anyother electronic device or computing system capable of receiving andsending data to and from other computing devices, such as server 110,via network 130. Although not shown, optionally, merchant device 140 cancomprise a cluster of servers executing the same software tocollectively process requests as distributed by a front-end server and aload balancer. Merchant device 140 is described in more detail withreference to FIG. 6.

Blockchain nodes 120 includes smart contracts 122. In the exampleembodiment, blockchain nodes 120 may include one or more computingdevices (nodes) that store information corresponding to one or moreblockchains. In the example embodiment, each node of blockchain nodes120 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, amobile device, a handheld device, a thin client, or any other electronicdevice or computing system capable of receiving and sending data to andfrom other computing devices, such as server 110, via network 130.Blockchain nodes 120 is described in more detail with reference to FIGS.5 and 6.

Smart contracts 122 include one or more smart contracts located on theblockchain that may govern the allocation of rewards points for one ormore users of one or more merchants. In the example embodiment, eachsmart contract of smart contracts 122 may correspond to a specificmerchant and a specific user, however, in other embodiments, each smartcontract of smart contracts 122 may corresponding to one or more usersand a specific merchant, or a specific user and one or more merchants.Smart contracts 122 is described in more detail with reference to FIGS.2 through 4.

In the example embodiment, user device 150 includes client transactionapplication 152. Furthermore, in the example embodiment, user device 150may be a mobile device, however, in other embodiments, user device 150may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, ahandheld device, a thin client, or any other electronic device orcomputing system capable of receiving and sending data to and from othercomputing devices, such as server 110, via network 130. Although notshown, optionally, user device 150 can comprise a cluster of serversexecuting the same software to collectively process requests asdistributed by a front-end server and a load balancer. User device 150is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 6.

Client transaction application 152 is a client side application that maybe utilized to communicate with a corresponding server side application,such as transaction application 112. Furthermore, in the exampleembodiment, client transaction application 152 may be utilized tocommunicate with a merchant point of sale (POS) device, such as merchantdevice 140, in order to perform a transaction. Client transactionapplication 152 is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2through 4.

Server 110 includes transaction application 112 and database 114. In theexample embodiment, server 110 may be a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smartphone, a thinclient, or any other electronic device or computing system capable ofreceiving and sending data to and from other computing devices, such asmerchant device 140, via network 130. Server 110 is described in moredetail with reference to FIG. 6.

In the example embodiment, database 114 is a database that includesinformation corresponding to one or more users of transactionapplication 112. For example, database 114 may include user accountinformation, transaction information, authorization information, andfurther may include user preference information. Database 114 isdescribed in further detail with regard to FIGS. 2 through 4.

In the example embodiment, transaction application 112 is a softwareapplication that is capable of receiving transaction information fromother computing devices, such as user device 150 and merchant device140, and further capable of processing transactions based on thereceived transaction information. Furthermore, in the exampleembodiment, transaction application 112 is a server-side transactionapplication that is capable of communicating with one or more clientapplications, such as client transaction application 152. In addition,transaction application 112 is capable of identifying user preferencesassociated with a transaction and determining a payment option toutilize when processing the transaction. Furthermore, transactionapplication 112 is capable of serving as a platform for buying, selling,and exchanging rewards points. In addition, based on the preferredpayment option of a user, transaction application 112 is capable ofcommunicating with blockchain nodes 120 and identifying whether anamount of rewards for a specific merchant is available, and ifavailable, identifying a transaction path for obtaining the rewards.Transaction application 112 is described in more detail with regard toFIGS. 2 through 4.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the transactionapplication 112 in identifying whether an amount of rewards for aspecific merchant are available, and if so, determining a transactionpath for obtaining the rewards, in accordance with an embodiment.

In the example embodiment, transaction application 112 detects a requestto process a transaction with a merchant (step 202). In the exampleembodiment, transaction application 112 receives a request to process atransaction from merchant device 140. For example, the user of userdevice 150 may utilize client transaction application 152 to initiate atransaction at a merchant POS, such as merchant device 140. For example,the transaction may be initiated by user device 150 communicating withmerchant device 140 by way of near field communication (NFC), andfurther with merchant device 140 transmitting a request, to server 110,to process a transaction using the user information received from userdevice 150. In other embodiments, the transaction may be initiatedonline. In addition, in further embodiments, transaction application 112may receive the transaction request from user device 150 rather than amerchant device or merchant POS.

Upon detection of the request, transaction application 112 may referencedatabase 114 in order to authenticate the user information received inthe request, and identify the account associated with the user of userdevice 150. Furthermore, transaction application 112 may identify apayment preference associated with the account. For example, a “rewardsmarketplace” payment option may be the selected payment preference ofuser device 150. In the example embodiment, the “rewards marketplace”may include rewards information pertaining to one or more users, withthe rewards information contained on one or more blockchain (such as onblockchain nodes 120). In other embodiments, “the rewards marketplace”may include rewards information pertaining to one or more users, withthe rewards information stored on another storage medium, such as adatabase or one or more servers, and accessible via network 130.

If the “rewards marketplace” option is the preferred option for atransacting user, transaction application 112 may determine if rewards(such as points) specific to the merchant associated with thetransaction can be obtained from another user of transaction application112 (decision 204). In the example embodiment (where rewards informationis stored on one or more blockchains), transaction application 112 mayreference rewards information contained on the appropriate blockchainand identify whether another user of transaction application 112 hasrewards specific to the merchant associated with his/her account. Inother embodiments (where rewards information is not stored on ablockchain), transaction application 112 may access the appropriatestorage device(s) to identify whether another user of transactionapplication 112 has rewards specific to the merchant associated withhis/her account. Furthermore, if transaction application 112 determinesthat another user of transaction application 112 has rewards specific tothe merchant associated with the transaction, transaction application112 may further check preference information in database 114 todetermine preferences associated with the account of the other user inorder to determine whether the other user is willing to exchange or sellthe specific rewards.

If transaction application 112 determines that rewards specific to themerchant associated with the transaction cannot be obtained from anaccount of another user of transaction application 112 (decision 204,“NO” branch), transaction application 112 may utilize another paymentmethod to execute the transaction (step 206).

If transaction application 112 determines that rewards specific to themerchant associated with the transaction can be obtained from an accountof another user of transaction application 112 (decision 204, “YES”branch), transaction application 112 determines the optimal transactionpath for obtaining the rewards (step 208). In the example embodiment,determining the optimal transaction path may include referencingdatabase 114 to determining exchange or sell preferences associated withthe account of the other user. For example, the preferences may statethat the other user is willing to exchange rewards specific to themerchant associated with the transaction for rewards for a secondmerchant. Each reward may have an associated value that is determined bytransaction application 112 that may change dynamically based on anumber of factors such as the expiration date of the rewards (a value ofa reward may dip lower as the expiration date nears), and based onsupply and demand. Furthermore, the value of each respective reward maybe determined dynamically based on location information and device usageinformation of the opted in users. Device usage information may includecurrent usage of a device, such as tracking that a user is currentlyvisiting a merchant web site (or used a merchant application), and mayalso include past usage of a device, such as tracking that a user hasrecently visited a merchant website (or used a merchant application). Inthe example embodiment, location information and device usageinformation may be tracked for all users of transaction application 112that have opted in to participate in rewards exchanges.

For example, if a higher than a threshold amount of users are identifiedas being currently in a location associated with a first merchant and/orcurrently visiting a webpage/application associated with a firstmerchant, transaction application 112 may increase the price or exchangevalue for rewards associated with the first merchant based on anincreased potential demand. In addition, preferences associated with auser may state that a user is willing to exchange or sell rewards for aspecific merchant based on the price or exchange value being at or abovea certain level. In the example embodiment, in determining a transactionpath, transaction application 112 may determine reference preferencesassociated with one or more users that have the desired rewards, anddetermine which of the one or more users represents the optimaltransaction path. For example, a first user may be willing to sell thedesired rewards for a lower price than a second user, and therefore,transaction application 112 may determine that transacting with thefirst user is the optimal transaction path. In another example, a firstuser may be willing to exchange the desired rewards for an amount ofrewards corresponding to a first merchant, while a second user iswilling to exchange the desired rewards for an amount of rewardscorresponding to a second merchant. If the preferences associated withthe account of the user of user device 150 values rewards correspondingto the first merchant at a higher level than rewards corresponding tothe second merchant, transaction application 112 may determine thattransacting with the second user is the optimal transaction path.

In a further example, if a first user is willing the exchange thedesired rewards for an amount of rewards corresponding to a firstmerchant, however, the user of user device 150 only has rewardscorresponding to a second merchant, transaction application 112 mayidentify a second user to include in the transaction path that hasrewards corresponding to the first merchant and desires rewardscorresponding to a second merchant in return. In addition, in thisfurther example, transaction application 112 may take the acceptableexchange values corresponding to each user's rewards into account indetermining the optimal transaction path. For example, if a third useris willing to exchange rewards corresponding to the first merchant at alower rate than the second user described above, transaction application112 may include the third user in the transaction path in place of thesecond user. Furthermore, the length and complexity of the transactionpath may be taken into account as well. For example, if a firsttransaction path included the user of user device 150 transacting with afirst user and a second user to obtain the desired rewards, and a secondtransaction path includes the user of user device 150 transacting with afirst user, a second user, and a third user to obtain the desiredrewards, transaction application 112 may determine that the firsttransaction path is the optimal transaction path.

Once an optimal transaction path is determined by transactionapplication 112, transaction application 112 obtains the desired rewards(rewards corresponding to the merchant associated with the transaction)in accordance to the determined optimal transaction path (step 210). Inthe example embodiment, transaction application 112 may complete thetransaction utilizing the blockchain (with the blockchain being updatedto reflect the transaction or transactions).

In the example embodiment, transaction application 112 processes thetransaction using the obtained rewards corresponding to the merchantassociated with the transaction (step 212). Furthermore, in the exampleembodiment, transaction application 112 may determine if there is aleftover balance after the rewards have been applied towards thepurchase, and if so, transaction application 112 may utilize anotherpayment method associated with the account of the user of user device150 to complete the transaction.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of transactionapplication 112 in aggregating transaction information and based ondetermining whether a set of requirements are satisfied, causing rewardsinformation on a blockchain to be updated, in accordance with anembodiment. In the example embodiment, transaction application 112processes a transaction utilizing information received from a userdevice, such as user device 150, or a merchant device, such as merchantdevice 140 (step 302).

In the example embodiment, transaction application 112 aggregates theprocessed transaction with information corresponding to one or morepreviously processed transactions (step 304). In the example embodiment,transaction application 112 may identify the merchant associated withthe processed transaction and then aggregate the transaction only withpreviously processed transactions that correspond to the merchant.Furthermore, in the example embodiment, the processed transaction isonly aggregated with previously processed transactions that have notbeen written to the blockchain (or been processed for rewards pointsallocation).

In the example embodiment, transaction application 112 determines if theaggregated transactions satisfy one or more requirements (decision 306).In the example embodiment, the one or more requirements may include athreshold dollar amount, an amount of time, a number of transactions, ora similar transactional requirement. For example, transactionapplication 112 may determine that the aggregated transactions satisfythe one or more requirements if: 1) a transactional amount associatedwith the aggregated transactions exceeds a threshold dollar amount; 2)an amount of time that has passed since the earliest transaction of theaggregated transactions was processed exceeds a threshold amount oftime; or 3) the number of transactions associated with the aggregatedtransactions exceeds a threshold amount of transactions.

If transaction application 112 determines that the aggregatedtransactions do not satisfy the one or more requirements (decision 306,“NO” branch), transaction application 112 continues to aggregatetransaction associated with the merchant with the already aggregatedtransactions. If transaction application 112 determines that theaggregated transactions do satisfy the one or more requirements(decision 306, “YES” branch), transaction application 112 communicatesthe aggregated transactions to the appropriate smart contract of smartcontracts 122, and further causes an amount of rewards points to beallocated based on one or more factors associated with the aggregatedtransactions (step 308). In the example embodiment, each smart contractof smart contracts 122 may correspond to a specific merchant and furtherto each specific user. Therefore, transaction application 112 mayidentify the specific smart contract of smart contracts 122 thatcorresponds to the user of user device 150 and to the merchantassociated with the aggregated transactions. In other embodiments, asstated above, a smart contract of smart contracts 122 may correspond toa specific merchant and a group of users. In further embodiments, asmart contract of smart contracts 122 may correspond to multiple usersand either a single user (or a group of users).

In the example embodiment, the smart contract contains logic thatidentifies an amount of rewards to allocate to a user based on certaincriteria such as transactional amount, transactional volume, amount oftime spent at merchant locations, frequency of purchases, time periodsassociated with purchases, and additional factors. Transactionapplication 112 may utilize user information and merchant information toidentify the appropriate smart contract, and upon communicating theaggregated transaction information to the appropriate smart contract,the smart contract may cause the rewards to be allocated to an accountassociated with the user of user device 150. Furthermore, thetransaction information and/or allocated rewards may be written onto theblockchain (blockchain nodes 120).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of transactionapplication 112 in causing rewards information on a blockchain to beupdated based on detected location information, in accordance with anembodiment. In the example embodiment, transaction application 112detects the location of user device 150 (step 402). In one or moreembodiments, transaction application 112 may detect the location of userdevice 150 by communicating with a beacon device located in the vicinityof transaction application 112 (for example a beacon located in amerchant location visited by the user of user device 150), bycommunicating with a GPS module associated with user device 150, bycommunicating with merchant device 140 (for example, receiving locationinformation when transaction is initiated at merchant POS), or byutilizing other known means.

In the example embodiment, transaction application 112 determineswhether any previously completed transactions, which have not beencommunicated to an appropriate smart contract of smart contracts 122,correspond to a merchant in the detected location (decision 404). In theexample embodiment, transaction application 112 may aggregatetransactions and further categorize the transactions based on theassociated merchant. Upon, either satisfying certain requirements (asdiscussed in FIG. 3), or upon detected a user location within a merchantlocation, the transactions may be communicated to the appropriate smartcontract so that rewards may be allocated. Therefore, in this decisionstep, transaction application 112 may reference all previously completedtransactions which have not been communicated to the appropriate smartcontract, and identify if any of the previously completed transactions(which have not been communicated to the appropriate smart contract)correspond to a merchant in the detected location of user device 150. Iftransaction application 112 determines that no previously completedtransactions, which have not been communicated to an appropriate smartcontract of smart contracts 122, correspond to a merchant in thedetected location (decision 404, “NO” branch), transaction application112 continues to monitor the location of user device 150.

If transaction application 112 determines that one or more previouslycompleted transactions, which have not been communicated to anappropriate smart contract of smart contracts 122, correspond to amerchant in the detected location (decision 404, “YES” branch),transaction application 112 identifies an appropriate smart contract ofsmart contracts 122, and further communicates transaction informationcorresponding to the one or more previously completed transactions thatcorrespond to the merchant in the detected location to the appropriatesmart contract. In the example embodiment, communicating the transactioninformation to the appropriate smart contract causes an amount ofrewards to be allocated to an account of the user of user device 150(the amount determined based on the transactional amount, volume,frequency, detected location of the user, etc., as discussed above).Furthermore, the transaction information and/or the allocated rewardsamount may be written onto the appropriate blockchain (blockchain nodes120).

FIG. 5 is an illustration of blockchain nodes 120, in accordance with anembodiment. In the example embodiment, blockchain nodes 120 representthe nodes that support and store information corresponding to one ormore blockchains. In the example embodiment, blockchain nodes 120 mayinclude node 120 a, 120 b, 120 c to 120 n. This group of nodes mayrepresent the nodes that support a particular blockchain. In otherwords, each of these nodes is a computing device that stores a copy ofthe ledger file that corresponds to the particular blockchain, andfurther supports the updating of the ledger file as transactions areperformed.

In other embodiments, rather than transaction application 112 serving asa transaction application and a transaction platform for buying,selling, and/or exchanging rewards, transaction application 112 maycommunicate with a separate transaction platform to identify whetherspecific rewards are available and further to identify a transactionpath for obtaining the specific rewards.

The foregoing description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive nor to limit thedisclosure to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may beapparent to a person skilled in the art of the disclosure are intendedto be included within the scope of the disclosure as defined by theaccompanying claims.

FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of components of computing devicescontained in loyalty marketplace system 100 of FIG. 1, in accordancewith an embodiment. It should be appreciated that FIG. 6 provides onlyan illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitationswith regard to the environments in which different embodiments may beimplemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made.

Computing devices may include one or more processors 602, one or morecomputer-readable RAMs 604, one or more computer-readable ROMs 606, oneor more computer readable storage media 608, device drivers 612,read/write drive or interface 614, network adapter or interface 616, allinterconnected over a communications fabric 618. Communications fabric618 may be implemented with any architecture designed for passing dataand/or control information between processors (such as microprocessors,communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheraldevices, and any other hardware components within a system.

One or more operating systems 610, and one or more application programs611, for example, transaction application 112, are stored on one or moreof the computer readable storage media 608 for execution by one or moreof the processors 602 and by utilizing one or more of the respectiveRAMs 604 (which typically include cache memory). In the illustratedembodiment, each of the computer readable storage media 608 may be amagnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive, CD-ROM, DVD,memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk, asemiconductor storage device such as RAM, ROM, EPROM, flash memory orany other computer-readable tangible storage device that can store acomputer program and digital information.

Computing devices may also include a R/W drive or interface 614 to readfrom and write to one or more portable computer readable storage media626. Application programs 611 on the computing devices may be stored onone or more of the portable computer readable storage media 626, readvia the respective R/W drive or interface 614 and loaded into therespective computer readable storage media 608.

Computing devices may also include a network adapter or interface 616,such as a TCP/IP adapter card or wireless communication adapter (such asa 4G wireless communication adapter using OFDMA technology). Applicationprograms 611 on the computing devices may be downloaded to the computingdevices from an external computer or external storage device via anetwork (for example, the Internet, a local area network or other widearea network or wireless network) and network adapter or interface 616.From the network adapter or interface 616, the programs may be loadedonto computer readable storage media 608. The network may comprisecopper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers.

Computing devices may also include a display screen 620, and externaldevices 622, which may include, for example a keyboard, a computer mouseand/or touchpad. Device drivers 612 interface to display screen 620 forimaging, to external devices 622, and/or to display screen 620 forpressure sensing of alphanumeric character entry and user selections.The device drivers 612, R/W drive or interface 614 and network adapteror interface 616 may comprise hardware and software (stored on computerreadable storage media 608 and/or ROM 606).

The programs described herein are identified based upon the applicationfor which they are implemented in a specific embodiment. However, itshould be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature herein isused merely for convenience, and thus the disclosure should not belimited to use solely in any specific application identified and/orimplied by such nomenclature.

Based on the foregoing, a computer system, method, and computer programproduct have been disclosed. However, numerous modifications andsubstitutions can be made without deviating from the scope of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, the various embodiments have beendisclosed by way of example and not limitation.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be a system, a method,and/or a computer program product. The computer program product mayinclude a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computerreadable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carryout aspects of the present disclosure.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present disclosure may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present disclosure.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system, comprising: one or morecomputer-readable memories storing program instructions; and one or moreprocessors configured to execute the program instructions to cause thesystem to perform operations comprising: detecting a request to processa transaction corresponding to a first user account and a firstmerchant, wherein the first user account is controlled by a first userand is one of a plurality of user accounts configured to enable rewardpoints to be used for transactions with merchants on a transactionplatform; in response to detecting the request to process thetransaction corresponding to the first user account and the firstmerchant: identifying, in real time, that a second user account of theplurality of user accounts includes a first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant, wherein the second user account iscontrolled by a second user different than the first user; determining,in real time, an optimal electronic transaction path for obtaining, fromthe second user account, at least a portion of the first amount ofrewards corresponding to the first merchant, wherein the determining theoptimal electronic transaction path includes: determining that the firstuser account includes a second amount of rewards corresponding to asecond merchant; determining that the second user account is currentlyrequesting at least a portion of the second amount of rewardscorresponding to the second merchant; communicating with a web servercorresponding to a webpage associated with the second merchant todetermine that a threshold number of user accounts are currentlyvisiting a webpage associated with the second merchant; and in responseto the determining that the threshold number of user accounts arecurrently visiting the webpage associated with the second merchant,dynamically increasing an exchange rate of the second amount of rewardscorresponding to the second merchant in relation to the first amount ofrewards of the first merchant; and in response to the determining theoptimal electronic transaction path for obtaining, from the second useraccount, the at least the portion of the first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant, executing an electronic processcorresponding to the optimal electronic transaction path to obtain theat least the portion of the first amount of rewards corresponding to thefirst merchant and processing the transaction by utilizing the at leastthe portion of the first amount of rewards corresponding to the firstmerchant.
 2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the determining theoptimal electronic transaction path for obtaining the at least theportion of the first amount of rewards further includes: determiningthat a third user account of the plurality of user accounts includes athird amount of rewards corresponding to a third merchant, and iscurrently requesting a first portion of the second amount of rewardscorresponding to the second merchant, wherein the third user account iscontrolled by a third user different than the first user and the seconduser; and determining that the second user account is currentlyrequesting the third amount of rewards corresponding to the thirdmerchant.
 3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the determinedoptimal electronic transaction path includes utilizing the first portionof the second amount of rewards corresponding to the second merchant totransact with the third user account to obtain at least the secondportion of the third amount of rewards corresponding to the thirdmerchant.
 4. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the determining theoptimal electronic transaction path for obtaining the at least theportion of the first amount of rewards includes determining that afourth user account of the plurality of user accounts includes the thirdamount of rewards corresponding to the third merchant, and is currentlyrequesting a second portion of the second amount of rewardscorresponding to the second merchant, wherein the fourth user account iscontrolled by a fourth user different than the first user, the seconduser, and the third user, and wherein the determined optimal electronictransaction path includes utilizing the first portion of the secondamount of rewards corresponding to the second merchant to transact withthe third user account to obtain the third amount of rewardscorresponding to the third merchant based on determining that the firstportion of the second amount of rewards is a lower amount than thesecond portion of the second amount of rewards.
 5. The computer systemof claim 1, wherein the detecting the request to process the transactioncorresponding to the first user account and the first merchant includesreceiving the request from a device associated with the first merchant.6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein the device associated withthe first merchant is a point of sale device.
 7. The computer system ofclaim 1, wherein the identifying that the second user account of theplurality of user accounts includes a first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant comprises accessing a blockchaincontaining historic transactions of the transaction platform.
 8. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executableinstructions, that in response to execution by one or more hardwareprocessors, causes the one or more hardware processors to performoperations comprising: detecting a request to process a transactioncorresponding to a first user account and a first merchant, wherein thefirst user account is controlled by a first user and is one of aplurality of user accounts configured to enable rewards points to beused for transactions with merchants on a transaction platform; inresponse to detecting the request to process the transactioncorresponding to the first user account and the first merchant;identifying that a second user account of the plurality of user accountsincludes a first amount of rewards corresponding to the first merchant,wherein the second user account is controlled by a second user differentthan the first user; determining an optimal electronic transaction pathfor obtaining, from the second user account, at least a portion of thefirst amount of rewards corresponding to the first merchant, wherein thedetermining the optimal electronic transaction path includes:determining that the first user account includes a second amount ofrewards corresponding to a second merchant; determining that the seconduser account is currently requesting at least a portion of the secondamount of rewards corresponding to the second merchant; communicatingwith a web server corresponding to a webpage associated with the secondmerchant to determine that a threshold number of user accounts arecurrently visiting a webpage associated with the second merchant; and inresponse to the determining that the threshold number of user accountsare currently visiting the webpage associated with the second merchant,increasing an exchange rate of the second amount of rewardscorresponding to the second merchant in relation to the first amount ofrewards of the first merchant; and in response to the determining theoptimal electronic transaction path for obtaining, from the second useraccount, the at least the portion of the first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant, executing an electronic processcorresponding to the optimal electronic transaction path to obtain theat least the portion of the first amount of rewards corresponding to thefirst merchant and processing the transaction by utilizing the at leastthe portion of the first amount of rewards corresponding to the firstmerchant.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8,wherein the determining the optimal electronic transaction path forobtaining the at least the portion of the first amount of rewardsfurther includes: determining that a third user account of the pluralityof user accounts includes a third amount of rewards corresponding to athird merchant, and is currently requesting a first portion of thesecond amount of rewards corresponding to the second merchant, whereinthe third user account is controlled by a third user different than thefirst user and the second user; and determining that the second useraccount is currently requesting the third amount of rewardscorresponding to the third merchant.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the determined optimalelectronic transaction path includes utilizing the first portion of thesecond amount of rewards corresponding to the second merchant totransact with the third user account to obtain at least the secondportion of the third amount of rewards corresponding to the thirdmerchant.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8,wherein the determining the optimal electronic transaction path forobtaining the at least the portion of the first amount of rewardsincludes: determining a first electronic transaction path that includestransacting between three user accounts; determining a second electronictransaction path that includes transacting between four user accounts;and determining that the optimal electronic transaction path is thefirst electronic transaction path based on the first electronictransaction path having less total transactions.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the detecting the requestto process the transaction corresponding to the first user account andthe first merchant includes receiving the request from a point of saledevice associated with the first merchant.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the detecting the requestto process the transaction corresponding to the first user account andthe first merchant includes receiving the request from a deviceassociated with the first user.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 8, wherein the identifying that the second user accountof the plurality of user accounts includes a first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant comprises accessing a blockchaincontaining historic transactions of the transaction platform.
 15. Amethod, comprising: detecting a request to process a transactioncorresponding to a first user account and a first merchant, wherein thefirst user account is controlled by a first user and is one of aplurality of user accounts configured to enable rewards points to beused for transactions with merchants on a transaction platform; inresponse to detecting the request to process the transactioncorresponding to the first user account and the first merchant,identifying that a second user account of the plurality of user accountsincludes a first amount of rewards corresponding to the first merchant,wherein the second user account is controlled by a second user differentthan the first user; determining an optimal electronic transaction pathfor obtaining, from the second user account, at least a portion of thefirst amount of rewards corresponding to the first merchant, wherein thedetermining the optimal electronic transaction path includes:determining that the first user account includes a second amount ofrewards corresponding to a second merchant; determining that the seconduser account is currently requesting at least a portion of the secondamount of rewards corresponding to the second merchant; communicatingwith a web server corresponding to a webpage associated with the secondmerchant to determine that a threshold number of user accounts arecurrently visiting a webpage associated with the second merchant; and inresponse to the determining that the threshold number of user accountsare currently visiting the webpage associated with the second merchant,increasing an exchange rate of the second amount of rewardscorresponding to the second merchant in relation to the first amount ofrewards of the first merchant; and in response to the determining theoptimal electronic transaction path for obtaining, from the second useraccount, the at least the portion of the first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant, executing an electronic processcorresponding to the optimal electronic transaction path to obtain theat least the portion of the first amount of rewards corresponding to thefirst merchant and processing the transaction by utilizing the at leastthe portion of the first amount of rewards corresponding to the firstmerchant.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining theoptimal electronic transaction path for obtaining the at least theportion of the first amount of rewards includes: determining that athird user account of the plurality of user accounts includes a thirdamount of rewards corresponding to a third merchant, and is currentlyrequesting a first portion of the second amount of rewards correspondingto the second merchant, wherein the third user account is controlled bya third user different than the first user and the second user; anddetermining that the second user account is currently requesting thethird amount of rewards corresponding to the third merchant.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the determined optimal electronictransaction path includes utilizing the first portion of the secondamount of rewards corresponding to the second merchant to transact withthe third user account to obtain at least the second portion of thethird amount of rewards corresponding to the third merchant.
 18. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the determining the optimal electronictransaction path for obtaining the at least the portion of the firstamount of rewards includes determining that a fourth user account of theplurality of user accounts includes the third amount of rewardscorresponding to the third merchant, and is currently requesting asecond portion of the second amount of rewards corresponding to thesecond merchant, wherein the fourth user account is controlled by afourth user different that the first user, the second user, and thethird user, and wherein the determined optimal electronic transactionpath includes utilizing the first portion of the second amount ofrewards corresponding to the second merchant to transact with the thirduser account to obtain the third amount of rewards corresponding to thethird merchant based on determining that the first portion of the secondamount of rewards is a lower amount than the second portion of thesecond amount of rewards.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein thedetecting the request to process the transaction corresponding to thefirst user account and the first merchant includes receiving the requestfrom a device associated with the first merchant.
 20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the identifying that the second user account of theplurality of user accounts includes a first amount of rewardscorresponding to the first merchant comprises accessing a blockchaincontaining historic transactions of the transaction platform.